2014 U.S. Open Juniors

Grand Rapids, Michigan, July 1-5 - Junior players from the Maryland Table Tennis Center in Gaithersburg excelled at the U.S. Open Table Tennis Championships.

Crystal Wang, 12, of Boyds, MD, won Cadet Girls' Singles (15 & Under), defeating Amy Wang of New Jersey 3-1 in the final. Crystal also made the semifinals of Junior Girls, the quarterfinals of Under 21 Women's Singles, and the semifinals of Junior Girls' Teams (with Diane Jiang of California). Crystal, who is the youngest member in U.S. history to make the U.S. Women's National Team - top four in the country - did not compete in 13 and Under Girls' Singles as she was already entered in eight other events. She is also the reigning U.S. Under 22 Women's Singles Champion (youngest ever) and a finalist in Women's Singles at the 2014 North American Championships (also youngest ever).

Derek Nie, 13, of North Potomac, MD, won 13 & Under Boys' Singles, defeating Victor Liu of California 3-1 in the final. Derek had won 11 and Under Boys' Singles at the U.S. Open two years before, also in Grand Rapids. In new rankings he should be #1 in the U.S. in Under 14 Boys' rankings.

Ruichao Alex Chen of Germantown, MD, made the final of Junior Boys' Singles, defeating Kai Zhang of New York, the #1 U.S. Under 18 player before losing 3-1 in the final to Yang XinYang of China. Alex is ranked #3 in the U.S. in Under 17 Boys. Alex and his MDTTC coaching colleague Qingliang Wang both reached the Semi's in the U-2600 event.

Alex teamed with Nathan Hsu of Rockville, MD, and Chen Bo Wen of Germantown, MD, to make the semifinals of the Junior Boys' Teams event. They lost to the eventual winner, a New Jersey team that included Liao Cheng-ting, the #1 junior player from Chinese Taipei. Nathan, the 2011 U.S. Junior Olympic Under 16 Boys' Singles Gold Medalist and 2012 Under 18 Boys' Singles Silver Medalist, defeated Keda Chen, the U.S. #1 under 17 player in the round of 64 of Junior Boys' Singles. Chen Bo Wen reached the quarterfinals of the Junior Boys' Singles, losing 3-1 to teammate Alex.

Jiajun Zhu, 14, made the Semi-Final of Junior Boys' Singles event. Yuxiang Jin, 13, made the Semi-Final of Cadet Boys' Singles event. Together, they also reached the Semi's of the Junior Boys Team event.

Ryan Dabbs, 11, of Rockville, MD, made the quarterfinals of 11 & Under Boys' Singles.

Tiffany Ke, 10, of Gaithersburg, MD, made the quarterfinals of 11 & Under Girls' Singles.

Thanks to all the hard work and support of the entire MDTTC coaching team, practice partners, and parents for making these successes possible, and special thanks to our sponsors Butterfly North America, GoTableTennis.com, and HW Global Foundation!